Updated 12:09 am, Thursday, July 28, 2011

BROWNSVILLE — Mexican officials said the military soldiers who inadvertently got on the Donna-Rio Bravo International Bridge on Tuesday had no choice but to cross into the U.S. to make a U-turn.

The Mexican military said Wednesday that four Humvees full of soldiers accidentally crossed to the U.S. but followed their neighbor's protocol and reported to U.S. Customs and Border Protection before turning around to resume duties in Mexico.

“Military personnel of this jurisdiction were patrolling along the border zone when they involuntarily crossed into U.S. territory on the international ‘Rio Bravo-Donna' bridge due to the fact the turn-around was on the American side,” according to a statement from Mexico's secretary of defense. “The situation was clarified with the immigration authorities of our neighboring country.”

CBP said 33 Mexican soldiers were processed Tuesday afternoon after “inadvertently” crossing to the U.S. side of the bridge.

“Half of that bridge belongs to Mexico,” CBP spokesman Felix Garza said Wednesday. “They were on the bridge, and as they traveled they lost sight of the boundary.”

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He said no one was arrested, and maintained that U.S. officials viewed the situation as an inadvertent crossing.

“That is the story,” he said.

CBP spokesman Rick Pauza said Tuesday the agency “does have protocols in place to handle these type of incidents, and they're being processed according to those protocols.”

Both Pauza and Garza said there had been similar incidents in the past year, though neither could immediately say how many border-wide.

Pauza said one incident occurred May 31, when three Mexican military vehicles briefly crossed to the U.S. side at the Free Trade Bridge at Los Indios, near Harlingen.

Another was on June 22 at the Lincoln-Juarez International Bridge in Laredo, when a convoy of three military trucks coming across the bridge reportedly led to alarmed phone calls by U.S. officials. Mexican officials said the soldiers were new to the area and got lost.

“Other than a brief traffic stoppage, there was no impact on our officers or the traveling public,” Pauza said.

Still another occurred July 10 at the bridge in Donna. Two Mexican military vehicles and one Mexican police vehicle briefly crossed into U.S. territory and returned without incident.

Patricia Guillermo, spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, said she had gotten reports of a fifth recent incident that occurred in December at the Anzalduas International Bridge, although that time the Mexican military did a U-turn before actually crossing the U.S.-Mexico line. Pauza confirmed the incident.

Nina Pruñeda, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said ICE officials joined CBP officers Tuesday in interviewing members of the Mexican military. The incident occurred about 1:30 p.m. Though traffic was stalled, the bridge remained open. There were no reports of injuries or gunfire.

The bridge links the growing mid-Rio Grande Valley region with Rio Bravo, a small city a few miles east of the Mexican city of Reynosa. It opened Dec. 14 in a ceremony attended by Mexican President Felipe Calderón and Hinojosa.